Mobile e-Commerce
Mobile e-Commerce is commerce made available to the mobile user through mobile devices such as mobile phones, PDA, etc. The mobile user has the possibility to make a bet, play a game, pay bills, perform a transaction, buy stocks, buy and pay securely using their mobile device.
Due to the physical limitations of the mobile devices such as processing power, memory size, battery lifetime, etc. it is common to have a Mobile e-Commerce (MeC) server to assist in the security and payment processes. FIG. 1 shows an example of a Mobile e-Commerce system, which consists of:                Mobile devices        A Mobile e-Commerce Server        Financial Institutions        Merchant or Content Provider        
In general a user browses to a merchant or content provider site using their mobile device. They are presented with options and select goods or services to be purchased. At some stage they will wish to “check out” and pay for these selected items. The content provider diverts the request to the MeC Server. The MeC server maintains relevant user information in order to authenticate, and get payment approval. It then contacts the Financial Institution (e.g. Credit Card Company, bank, etc.) to get payment clearance.
On a positive answer from the Financial Institution, the MeC server will inform the content provider to proceed. Depending on the nature of the merchandise, it could be delivered directly to the user, be picked up by the user or be shipped by post later. The general flow is shown in FIG. 2.
It is important to note that in this scenario, both the user and the content provider are registered in the Mobile e-Commerce server. Obviously the Financial Institution has agreements with the Mobile e-Commerce service provider and the content provider for payment clearance. This environment can be regarded as the Home Service Area. How the user access this service area, is outside the scope of this document.
Related Prior Art
International patent application WO9944165 discloses a system for e-Commerce on the Internet, enabling customers to pay for services and goods from prepaid accounts. The system is based on the use of modular transaction servers (TxS). The TxS includes among other an input device for receiving requests for a service from end-users, a service device rendering the requested service and an account device for keeping track of the users balances.
In a roaming situation, two TxS devices are involved. The first device, identified as a foreign TxS, is the place where the end-user initiates the transaction. The second device, identified as the home TxS, holds the business information for the pre-paid account. The home TxS is requested by the foreign TxS to retrieve the PIN information and update the account.
WO9944165 relates to e-Commerce on the Internet and never discusses the mobile domain or the implications of roaming within this domain. The solution is restricted to prepaid transactions.
A major weakness with this system is the low security level offered, due to the exchange of PIN data. This assumes a trust level between the home TxS and the foreign TxS. It is assumed that a user will automatically trust the foreign TxS, and provide secret information, such as a PIN, to this foreign server. In the mobile world it is very likely that the home operator and the foreign operator have no trust relationship. This makes this solution less feasible in a mobile communication network.
Further, WO9944165 mentions nothing on how to identify the home server, it is assumed that the foreign server knows this server.